Medications for Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 13:32
- Multiple Sclerosis
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- Dick:
- As you have pointed out, we now have years of data to look at and rely upon. What do these medications do? What’s the mechanism for some of these medications that have demonstrated effectiveness with MS?
- Dr. Galetta:
- We have many thoughts about how they may work, but we’re not exactly sure about the exact mechanism. But let me just give you an overview as to some of the possible ways these drugs have been thought to work.
- Dick:
- Sure.
- Dr. Galetta:
- There are bad T-cells, and these bad T-cells are immune cells. And what they presumably do is they enter into your brain. They have to find a way to get into that brain, and they have to cross a barrier that normally exists. They have to bind to certain cells at that surface and find their way in there. So we can, for instance, maybe affect how they bind to get into that nervous system. Once they get into the nervous system, we see that these T-cells then activate a whole set of molecules or chemicals in your brain. By doing that, they may trigger some bad chemicals that actually go in and attack the myelin.
Also, they may shift certain types of cells into an active and aggressive mode. So these drugs may prevent the bad T-cells from ever getting into your nervous system, but once they even get there, these drugs may convert these bad T-cells into good T-cells. You see, there is always sort of a play here where there are good immune cells and bad immune cells, and what these drugs may do in part is convert these bad T-cells into good T-cells.
- Dick:
- Sure.
- Dr. Galetta:
- By doing that, it may actually enhance the good chemicals inside your brain that can act to help stop these bad T-cells from doing their thing.
- Dick:
- Thanks for keeping your answer simple too so that a lot of our listeners who may not understand a lot of medical terminology can really get the gist of what you just had to say. Thanks, Dr. Galetta.
- Dr. Galetta:
- Thank you.
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